Australia cannot sit on the Palestine wall

[Violet_Crumble]

One plus zero does not equal two. Australia has always advocated bi-partisan support for a two-state solution.

Logically, this means that our vote for Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly on September 20 should indeed be a no-brainer. With Spain and Belgium now supporting the bid, Palestine is already recognised as a state by 124 countries, so it needs another five votes, or two-thirds majority, to be admitted as the 194th member of the UN.

So why so much frantic lobbying and gnashing of teeth over this simple arithmetic?

Sadly, the vote will have less to do with Palestinian rights and more to do with our domestic politics. In 1948, Australian foreign minister H V Evatt became president of the UN and earned Israel's 'undying gratitude'. In 1949, he 'steered to a vote' resolution 181 which formally recognised Israel into the 'family of nations'. Australia was among the first to vote 'Yes' to a two-state solution.

If our commitment has integrity, we will soon be able to 'steer' another 'Yes' vote. But it will more likely be 'No' for all the wrong reasons.

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2862826.html